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New York Mills School will have 2 principals again next year

New York Mills School is going back to two full-time principals for the 2012-13 school year.

The school board unanimously approved the discontinuation of Travis Hensch's dean of students position at a meeting March 26, as well as the hiring of a full-time elementary school principal.

The administration model has been under discussion at school board workshops for many months. The board agreed the current model of a full-time high school principal, a split elementary principal/superintendent and a split dean of students/athletic director was not working.

In a follow-up interview after the meeting, Superintendent Todd Cameron said, "In my opinion, it makes the most education sense to have two principals (one in the high school and one in the elementary), because of our enrollment size."

An elementary principal would be paid an estimated salary of $70-80,000. School board member John Peeters said this new position would cost $20-30,000 more than the current dean of students position. Despite this, the board approved the hiring.

The hiring process was also discussed. Cameron, along with high school principal Blaine Novak, will do the initial screening of resumes. Applicants who meet set criteria will be interviewed by a committee consisting of two teachers, two administration members and two board members. The final part of the hiring process will be an interview before the school board.

Board member Josie Hendrickx said, "It's crucial to bring the last three (candidates) before the whole board."

Cameron said he has two more years on his contract and, during that time, "the school board will need to continue their discussion of what the administrative model will look like in the future because of declining financial resources."

For the next school year, NY Mills will have two full-time principals and a full-time superintendent, however, Cameron's final year of his contract (in 2013-14) may be reevaluated when it comes to fulltime, part-time, or shared status.

The next school board meeting will be April 23 at 6 p.m. in the elementary school media center.